'Asir & Yemen

To the south of the Hijaz lie the provinces of 'Asir and Yemen, controlled by the Ayyubid sultan of Yemen. The majority of the population are either Sunnis or Zaydi Shi'is, although in Yemen there are also scattered communities of Tayyibis (TOYyi-beez), an offshoot of the Isma'ili Shi'i Fatimids who maintain the belief in a hidden dynasty of imams. The Tayyibis are heavily involved in trade and have regular contact with the island of Soqotra to the south, home to a strange culture of non-Hermetic sorcerers (See Rival Magic, pages 110–141, for more details on Soqotran Sorcerers). As a result of their seafaring, the Yemenites are even beginning to expand into the old Ethiopian lands in Africa and across the Arabian Sea into al-Sind.

Located in the highlands of Yemen, where the air is fresh and the temperature cool, the city of Sana'a is the administrative center of the Yemen-'Asir region, home to

the Ayyubid sultan al-Mas'ud Yusuf. It is renowned for its market, the Suq al-Milh (Salt Market), where all sorts of oddities may be found by the persistent, and for the quality of its food.

In Al-Jahiliyya, the pre-Islamic times, jinn were said to dwell in the Valley of 'Abqar and inspire the greatest of the old Arabian bards and poets, acting as their Supernatural Muses. The valley may be a faerie regio accessed from both Yemen or southern Jordan, a city or town within Arcadia, or perhaps all of these simultaneously.

To the east of Sana'a lie the remains of Ma'rib, the ancient capital of Balqis (or Bilqis), the Queen of Sheba. It was once ruled by mukkaribs, hereditary priest-kings

The cult of the Daughters of Allah discovers the location of the sanctuary of al-Manat and begins a tripartite ritual that is intended to bring about apocalyptic results, possibly restoring the goddesses to the mortal realm, or damaging or destroying the Ka'ba at Mecca. The player characters get wind of this and must take action to stop them.

Farida, as the newest member of the family, has qualms about her involvement in the cult. Perhaps she feels strongly connected to her Muslim upbringing, which is leading her to have second thoughts. Maybe she is being asked to engage in practices that she finds conflict with her own morals. More sinisterly, perhaps she is pregnant, and she has been told by her father-inlaw that she will be giving birth to her replacement, making her concerned for her future in a family that is normally limited to only three members. Will the characters be able to help her?

Why is the food in Sana'a so universally good? The characters gain possession of a cooking vessel from Sana'a and discover that it bears a hedge magic enchantment that makes meals unusually tasty, but that also Warps those who use the vessel over an extended period of time. If such cooking vessels are in widespread use, then the entire population of the town may be suffering from Warping effects unawares. Who created these vessels, and do they know of the damage that they are causing the people of Sana'a?

Suleiman heard from the hoopoe (a brightly-colored bird fond of traveling widely) of the Queen of Sheba's kingdom, a land where the people worshiped the sun alongside God, and so he decided to invite Balqis to discuss her faith with him. She accepted his invitation and prepared riddles and difficult questions with which to test him. Then she set out to Jerusalem in a caravan laden with gold, spices, and precious jewels.

Suleiman, in the meantime, asked his court if anyone could bring the queen's throne before she arrived. A jinni boasted that it could obtain it before Suleiman rose from his seat, but "one who had knowledge of the Book" promised to bring it in the blink of an eye. The throne thus procured, it was disguised to test whether Balqis was a recipient of divine guidance. When she entered Suleiman's throne room she remarked on how much the throne resembled her own, but then when she entered a hall paved with glass she mistook it for a lake, drawing up her skirts and baring her legs. When her folly was revealed, she recognized that her worship of the sun was also incorrect and acknowledged God as the only deity.

Story Seed: King Suleiman and the Queen of Sheba

Remains of Sheba's sun worship might still be present in Ma'rib or other sites across the Middle East — the actual deities that the people of Sheba worshiped might be in reality either powerful Faerie entities, who crave worship from humans and plot to achieve this, or demons who represent themselves as a heavenly trinity, seeking to turn people away from worship of the True God. Was the magic of the mukkaribs a variant of the more common summoning arts — instead of calling jinn, could it command and control celestial entities and Astra Planeta Daimons in a way similar to the Theurgical Mysteries?

Characters might encounter the hoopoe or its descendents, magical creatures who might be guides through the region or even prove suitable as familiars or magical covenfolk. Also, what became of the queen's throne and the hall paved with glass? Perhaps they are supernatural or even Divine items that remain somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered.

In addition, what became of Suleiman and the Queen of Sheba? According to tradition, they both died, but they were powerful sorcerers. Could they still be alive, perhaps working behind the scenes to influence human events? Perhaps the Queen's skills at entrancement and political magic has secretly left a legacy within the Storytelling magic of current sahirs, a legacy that may hint at further mysteries yet to be incorporated into the Solomonic Arts?

Magic Might: 10 (Corpus)

Season: Summer

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre –3, Com 0, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +2, Qik +3

Size: –1

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Magic Human; Magical Monster; Essential Virtue (Fast Leaper), Ways of the Forests; Keen Vision, Long-Winded, Sharp Ears, Voice of the Forest, Wilderness Sense; Enemies (people of Hadramawt); Compulsion (curiosity), Missing Eye, Missing Hand, Small Frame

Magical Qualities and Inferiorities: Greater Power, Improved Defense x2, Improved Fatigue x2, Improved Initiative x2, Improved Soak x2; Monstrous Appearance*; Susceptible to Deprivation

Personality Traits: Cautious +1, Curious +3, Skittish +2; Fast (Leaping) +6*

Combat:

Fist: Init +6, Attack +2, Defense +8, Damage –3

Soak: +6

Wound Penalties (material form): –1 (1**–4), –3 (5–8), –5 (9–12), Incapacitated (13–**16), Dead (17+)

Abilities: Arabic 4 (listening in), Athletics 5 (leaping), Awareness 3 (ambushes), Brawl 3 (fist), Concentration 2 (jumping), Folk Ken 2 (peasants), Hadramawt Lore 3 (forests), Hunt 3 (tracking), Stealth 3 (sneak), Survival 3 (forests), Wilderness Sense 3 (forests)

Powers:

Hop like the Wind, 0 points, Init +5, Corpus: R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind. The nisnas can make great leaps to cover terrain at speed. This works like the Hermetic spell Gift of the Frog's Legs, except that the nisnas may make a great leap every round. (Greater Power, 20 levels, –2 Might cost, +4 Initiative)

Vis: 2 pawns Corpus, in foot.

Appearance: The nisnas looks like a small man, but with half a head (with no face), half a body, one arm, one leg, a sheep's tail and half a face implanted in its chest.

The nisnas is found in the forests of Yemen and Hadramawt, though its origin seems to be in Hadramawt specifically. It is a wild, inoffensive creature, but the people of Hadramawt find its flesh sweet, so they hunt it for food. Nisnases can speak, and tales are told of some who begged for mercy before they were slain.

The characters come across a nisnas that has escaped from its captors. It begs them to help it get away. This is likely to raise a moral or emotional dilemma for some characters. According to most religious teachings, only humans have souls. Yet this creature seems literally half-human; so does it have a soul? Even if not, will the characters willingly refuse aid to a creature that is begging for them to help it escape from being eaten?

of celestial deities representing the sun, moon, and stars: al-Shams, 'Ilmaqa, and al-Zuhara.

Most of the palaces, temples, and gardens lie in ruins now, but the great jinn-built temple of Ghumdam remains, standing in solitary silence and bearing a Magic aura of 6, although smaller less powerful auras are scattered throughout the city, home to pagan jinn that once served the Queen at the bequest of King Suleiman. The great dyke that once held back the waters of the Wadi Udhana, protecting the city from the depredations of the uncontrollable water elementals that plague the river upstream, lies broken in the high mountains.

The lands around here could be a good spot upon which to found a covenant, if the characters could overcome the difficulties of supplying such a remote site and the hostile supernatural inhabitants, who bear no love for wizards or summoners.